DOCSLIB.ORG

John Stott Centenary the Legacy Lives on Contents

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
John Stott Centenary the Legacy Lives on Contents Inspiring Christlikeness Spring 2021 TRANSFORMLangham Partnership News John Stott Centenary the legacy lives on Contents Equipping a new generation of Bible teachers Chair of Trustees Mary Evans National Director John Libby International Ministries Director Chris Wright Langham Preaching Programme Director: Paul Windsor Langham Literature Programme Director: Pieter Kwant PO Box 296 Carlisle CA3 9WZ E: [email protected] Langham Scholars Programme Director Riad Kassis If you would like multiple copies of this magazine for friends, church members, 4 8 10 etc., please ask Liz Wright, address below. Please send donations to: Abrahamic The Vision Word on the World Mrs Liz Wright A study by John Stott 19 Whitfield Place, London, W1T 5JX and Apostalic Continues Tel: 020 7209 0915 Email: [email protected] Registered Charity No. 1092233 Company limited by guarantee. Langham Partnership’s No. 4235957 Tim Charnick Design: 07712613926 Vision and Mission Cover photo courtesy of Kieran Dodds Langham Partnership’s Our mission is to strengthen the ministry Vision is to see of the Word of God through: nurturing Have you considered including Langham churches equipped for national movements for biblical preaching Partnership in your will? mission and growing (Langham Preaching); fostering the creation Like many mission organisations we can to maturity in Christ and distribution of evangelical literature benefit greatly when friends make a final through the ministry of (Langham Literature); and enhancing gift that continues to bless the ministries pastors and leaders who evangelical theological education (Langham they have generously supported in believe, teach and live Scholars), especially in countries where life. Once you have made proper and by the Word of God. churches are under resourced. primary provision for family and friends this can be a very effective way to go on making a difference to the church on follow us earth when you have joined the church Give online in glory! If you would like to consider this You can donate to option in your will please let us know and we wiill send you a helpful legacy Langham easily online, leaflet. Contact John Libby: once or regularly. [email protected] Go to this page and click on the links: If you would like to discontinue receiving www.langham.org Transform please email us on uk@ http://uk.langham.org/donate-now/ langham.org TRANSFO2 RM Spring 2021 Greetings from the National Director: hich disciple in the UK hopes for the ‘new called to be more radical? John Stott was the person normal’, a return to a similar rhythm that who was key in changing my own compromised, Wgave safety, security, social life (without wriggly, lukewarm, self-defined discipleship. Possibly distancing), family reintegration and the freedom and also for you? So we celebrate his legacy. Legacy? As variety of choice in travel and holidays? Me, for one! OxfordLanguages suggests: You too? I recognise these as rather comfortable, middle class, western aspirations and wonder what “ proportion of the global population is simply too exhausted or damaged or frightened to look to the future at all. Then I consider my calling as a Christian disciple. Which true disciple looks backwards? The furrows made by our ploughs are wriggly enough even when we try to look forward! As Jesus cautioned, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’ Historically, God’s people accepted their challenge and made their sacrifices, rejecting self-centredness. ‘When a person dies, the mark the individual left on The open-endedness of their call and their responses the world represents that individual’s legacy. ... It is are commended in scripture, ‘Here am I, send about the richness of the individual’s life, including me!’ ‘We have given everything up to follow you’, what that person accomplished and the impact he or and yet, shortly after the events of the crucifixion she had on people and places. Ultimately, the story of and resurrection, we find the first disciples back as a person’s life reflects the individual’s legacy.’ fishermen on Galilee, their ‘new normal’, albeit only But then we have an oxymoron, don’t we? John briefly? It was indeed only a pause. Can we imagine Stott’s Legacy becomes in truth Prophetic, Peter, John or Paul looking backwards with any sense challenging us to look forward and not back and so of longing rather than forward to their divine mission to better become the people God wants us to be! and ministry? I suspect he would not be impressed if his legacy We need forward vision and inspiration. The caused us to look back rather than forward. It’s as current shock to economic expectations reminds if he challenges us to spend time seriously cleaning of a previous Chancellor’s observation: steering our windscreen as opposed to fiddling with our rear the economy was like driving a vehicle with the mirror. windscreen completely obscured and only the rear- As you read this edition’s articles and reflect on view mirror to give any guidance. Looking back in the man and the writings they point to, I hope you order to drive forward is fine providing there are no feel called, like me, to rejoice and to celebrate. bends or bumps in the road. Scripture tells us that The godly response is surely to look forward with the narrow road which we are called to follow is greater commitment and confidence, even as we hazardous. acknowledge and admire John Stott’s generous Yet, rather than attempt to clean the windscreen, we Legacy. seem to prefer to look back with all the perfect clarity With Christian greetings which hindsight allows and then to expect ‘more of John Libby the same’ or not that much different – in our comfort, National Director, in our ambition, in our behaviour. What if we are Langham Partnership (UKI) LANGHAM PARTNERS HIP 3 Abrahamic and Apostalic by Chris Wright Global Ambassador and Ministry Director ‘I am a great believer,’ John Stott would often say, ‘in the importance of B.B.C. Not the British Broadcasting Company, nor Bethlehem Bible College, nor even Beautiful British Columbia. But “Balanced Biblical Christianity”.’ In my own assessment of John’s life and ministry I suggest a biblical balance of Old and New Testaments by saying that the scale and scope of John Stott’s significance within the global church has been both Abrahamic and apostolic. Abrahamic always been ‘Abrahamic’ in the sense of what it meant to be the worldwide body being instrumental in God fulfilling that of Christ. Wherever he went, he did as John Stott was Abrahamic in two ways, promise. And in that sense, John Stott his father had told him as a small boy of which the first is the most obvious. was truly Abahamic. His whole life, from in the countryside – he kept his eyes a) Blessing the nations a very early stage of his pastoral ministry, and ears open. He listened respectfully The gospel, according to Paul (Gal. 3:8), was spent in reaching out to the nations to other cultures, learned from them, was announced in advance to Abraham of the world. and sought to see the richness of the – namely, the good news of God’s His travels in all continents were not eternal biblical gospel through the eyes, promise to bless all the nations on earth just some kind of tourism for Jesus needs and aspirations of others. It could through him. Ultimately, of course, this (or sanctified bird-watching), but were be said that he was a blessing to so was fulfilled through Jesus Christ and the integrated into a growing passion to many people in every part of the world, spread of the gospel in his name to all gain a truly global understanding of because he opened himself up to be nations. But the role of God’s people has Christian theology and mission, and of blessed by them. And the extent to which John Stott was Abrahamic in ‘blessing TRANSFO4 RM Spring 2021 the nations’ can be seen in the number of international evangelical organizations in which he invested many years of encouragement, advocacy and practical ministry, such as IFES (the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students), EFAC (the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion), the Lausanne Movement, WEA (the World Evangelical Fellowship), Scripture Union, A Rocha, Tear Fund, and doubtless many other less well known national initiatives that He listened respectfully to other were blessed by his support. b) The obedience of faith cultures, learned from them, and But John was Abrahamic not just in sought to see the richness of the the scope of his ministry, but also in its substance. ‘By faith Abraham… eternal biblical gospel through the obeyed’ (Heb. 11:8). God’s promise eyes, needs and aspirations of others. came along with a demand, that he should walk in the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, and falsehood of the ‘sacred-secular divide’. teaching his household to do the same New Testament we see the apostles’ It was this conviction that led to the (Gen. 18:19). God’s people were to evangelism and the apostles’ teaching. bless the nations by living among them foundation of the London Institute for a) Evangelism in a way that was ethically distinctive at Contemporary Christianity, as well as every level – political, economic, judicial, books like The Contemporary Christian The apostles were commissioned to familial, sexual, etc. God’s people are and Issues Facing Christians Today. proclaim the good news that the one true to be, as Jesus put it, salt in a corrupt John was not interested in ‘the God of Israel had kept his promise of world and light in a dark world.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Evangelicalism and the Church of England in the Twentieth Century
    STUDIES IN MODERN BRITISH RELIGIOUS HISTORY Volume 31 EVANGELICALISM AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY REFORM, RESISTANCE AND RENEWAL Evangelicalism and the Church.indb 1 25/07/2014 10:00 STUDIES IN MODERN BRITISH RELIGIOUS HISTORY ISSN: 1464-6625 General editors Stephen Taylor – Durham University Arthur Burns – King’s College London Kenneth Fincham – University of Kent This series aims to differentiate ‘religious history’ from the narrow confines of church history, investigating not only the social and cultural history of reli- gion, but also theological, political and institutional themes, while remaining sensitive to the wider historical context; it thus advances an understanding of the importance of religion for the history of modern Britain, covering all periods of British history since the Reformation. Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of this volume. Evangelicalism and the Church.indb 2 25/07/2014 10:00 EVANGELICALISM AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY REFORM, RESISTANCE AND RENEWAL EDITED BY ANDREW ATHERSTONE AND JOHN MAIDEN THE BOYDELL PRESS Evangelicalism and the Church.indb 3 25/07/2014 10:00 © Contributors 2014 All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner First published 2014 The Boydell Press, Woodbridge ISBN 978-1-84383-911-8 The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Connecting and Challenging
    In This Issue: Connecting and Challenging (page 1) Priorities in World Evangelization (page 1) Lausanne Covenant (page 2) YLG Profile: Grace Samson (page 2) ‘87 Profile: Greg Fritz (page 3) MONDAY — 25 September 2006 ISSUE 2 Connecting and Challenging Priorities in World by Judd Birdsall Evangelization As he anticipated attending the Younger by Paul Eshleman Leaders Gathering, Francis Doddamani of The Lausanne Strategy Working Group Bangalore, India spent a good deal of time has identified fourteen strategic priorities reading about Lausanne on the Internet. But that should be at the top of the church’s the words on his computer screen could not agenda if we are to see disciples made in all communicate the full reality of the movement nations. Two of the priorities will be he encountered at the Gathering’s first ple- printed in each edition of the YLG Daily nary session. “Today I saw the flesh of News Brief. Priorities 3 and 4 are listed Lausanne,” said Doddamani, “the word be- below. For a fuller introduction to the list came flesh for me.” of priorities, please see the 24 September The opening session was designed to con- Daily News Brief. nect participants with the history and spirit of 3. To mobilize significant, strategic, Lausanne. In his welcoming remarks focused prayer for the unfinished task Lausanne Executive Chairman Doug Birdsall of the Great Commission, and ask the Lord to send more workers into his placed Lausanne within the context of re- harvest field. When we search for the demptive history. God has long been in the strategies of Jesus in how to go about pro- business of raising up leaders—Abraham, claiming His message to the whole world, Jesus’ twelve disciples and now a new genera- “When they talked about ’74 I imagined we get these words from Matthew 9:38 tion of leaders to proclaim his message.
    [Show full text]
  • John Stott Discusses Hell
    ESSENTIALS A liberal-evangelical dialogue by David L. Edwards with John Stott Hodder &Stoughton LONDON SYDNEY AUCKLAND TORONTO British library Cataloguing in Publication Data Edwards, David L. (David Lawrence), 1929­ Essentials. 1. Christian church. Evangelism I. Title II. Stott, John R. W. (John Robert Walmsley), 1921­ 269'.2 ISBN 0 340 42623 3 Copyright © 1988 by DacJid L Edwards and John Stott. First printed 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photo­ copying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without either prior permission in writing from the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the United Kingdom such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-34 Alfred Place, London WClE 7DP. Printed in Great Britain for Hodder & Stoughton Limited, Mill Road, Dunton Green, Sevenoaks, Kent by Richard Clay Limited, Bungay, Suffolk. Photoset by Rowland Photo­ typesetting Limited, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Hodder & Stoughton Editoritll Office: 47 Bedford Square, Lolldoll WC1B 3DP. Contents Preface ix Abbreviations xi 1 The Power of the Gospel 1 John Stott's Response 32 2 The Authority of the Scriptures 41 John Stott's Response 83 3 The Cross of Christ 107 John Stott's Response 158 4 The Miraculous Christ 169 John Stott's Response 215 5 The Bible and Behaviour 234 John Stott's Response 259 6 The Gospel for the World 273 John Stott's Response 306 Epilogue by John Stott 332 Questions 339 Books referred to in the text 341 Index 349 112 ESSENTIALS THE GOSPEL FOR THE WORLD - Response 313 'we who are still alive', 'we will notall sleep' and 'the time is teeth' (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28), should short' (1 Thessalonians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Corin­ we not already begin to weep at the very prospect? I thank thians 7:29)? Well, of course, it is possible for you to press God for Jeremiah.
    [Show full text]
  • Principles of the New Evangelization: Analysis and Directions
    PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION: ANALYSIS AND DIRECTIONS By Richard M. Rymarz, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc, M.Ed.Studies, Grad Dip Ed, Ed.D, M.A (Theol). A thesis submitted as full requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University. School of Theology Faculty of Philosophy and Theology Australian Catholic University Date of Submission: 25th of May 2010 University Research Services Office Melbourne Campus Locked Bag 4115 Fitzroy VIC 3065 1 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP AND SOURCES This thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No part of this thesis has been submitted towards the award of any other degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. Richard M. Rymarz 2 ABSTRACT This thesis, after appropriate analysis, proposes a number of principles, which guide both an understanding of the new evangelization as formulated by Pope John Paul II and how the new evangelization can be applied. The key insight of the new evangelization is that growing numbers of people, especially in Western countries such as Australia, whilst retaining what can be termed a “loose” form of Christian affiliation, can no longer be described as having a living sense of the Gospel. This makes these people distinct from the classical focus of missionary activity, namely, those who have never heard the Gospel proclaimed. Pope John Paul II’s exposition of the new evangelization arose from his understanding of key conciliar and post-conciliar documents.
    [Show full text]
  • John Stott, "The Christian Contribution to Nation Building,"
    THE CHRISTIAN CONTRIBUTION TO NATION-BUILDING John Stott One of the most important questions facing Christiarts in every country today is this: What values and stan­ dards are going to dominate our national culture? Ken­ yan society is increasingly pluralistic. Christianity, Traditional African Religion, Islam, Marxism, secular­ ism and new religious cults are all competing for the souls of Kenya. For Christians this is first and foremost an evangelis­ tic question, namely whether Jesus Christ will be given the honour due to his name. For God has super-exalted him and accorded him the supreme place of dignity and authority in the universe. It is God's will that every knee should bow to him, and that every tongue should confess him lord (Phil. 2:9-11). If this is God's desire, it must be the desire of his people also. The question, however, has cultural implications also. Will Christians be able so to influence Kenya that the values and standards of Jesus Christ permeate its cul­ ture - its consensus on issues of social morality? its legislation? its administration of justice in the law­ courts and its conduct of business in the market-place? the education of its young people in school and col­ lege? its care of the sick and elderly? its respect for the unborn? the handicapped and the senile? its atti­ tude to dissidents and criminals? and the way of life of its citizens? Will Christ be Lord of Kenyan culture? so There can be no doubt that this is the will of Jesus Christ. He expected his followers to go out into the world, both in order to preach the gospel and make disciples, and in order to make their society more pleasing to God by being its salt and light.
    [Show full text]
  • “The Hell You Say”: Salvation and the Final Judgment
    ATR/95:1 “The Hell You Say”: Salvation and the Final Judgment Grant LeMarquand* The doctrine of soteriology implies some view of eschatology. If we are to be saved, from what are we to be saved? The traditional answer is that those who are not saved have Hell as their destiny. There is, of course, a spectrum of views on the nature of Hell. Those who see no need for humans to be saved, or those who be- lieve that all people will be saved, see no reason to believe in Hell. Those who hold that not all are saved still have differences of opin- ion about the nature of the final destiny of the lost. Among evan- gelical and conservative Anglicans two views have been held. John Stott, among others, held that the biblical imagery of Hell should lead us to believe that Hell means annihilation, or non-existence. J. I. Packer believes that the traditional view of Hell as conscious eternal torment better fits the biblical evidence. It is rare these days to hear a sermon on Hell. Even in very tradi- tional ecclesiastical settings, the subject is not often broached. In 2011, however, the North American evangelical world was plunged into a short-lived but rather tense period of controversy as the pastor of a popular megachurch released a slim volume entitle Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.1 Rob Bell, the pastor in question, discovered that he had seri- ous doubts about the traditional view of Hell as a place of eternal conscious torment.
    [Show full text]
  • God the Son: His Deity & Eternity Christianity Is Christ. the Very
    What Every Christian Should Know Lesson 6 - God the Son: His Deity & Eternity Christianity is Christ. The very existence of Christianity rests upon the person and work of its founder, Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a way of thinking, or a system of moral values and actions, it is a relationship with a Person. At the center of the Christian faith is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. John Stott explains, There are two principle reasons why our enquiry into Christianity should begin with the person of Christ. The first is that essentially Christianity is Christ. The person and work of Christ are the rock upon which the Christian religion is built. If he is not who he said he was, and if he did not do what he said he had come to do, the foundation is undermined and the whole superstructure will collapse. Take Christ from Christianity, and you disembowel it; there is practically nothing left. Christ is the center of Christianity; all else is circumference. Second, if Jesus Christ can be shown to have been a uniquely divine person, many other problems begin naturally to be solved. The existence of God is proved and the character of God revealed if Jesus was divine. Again questions about man’s duty and destiny, life after death, the purpose and authority of the Old Testament and the meaning of the cross begin to be answered because Jesus taught about these things, and his teaching must be true if his person is divine. (Basic Christianity, p. 21) A careful examination of the biblical data combined with a study of the historical debate and theological statements regarding the person of Jesus Christ leads inescapably to these conclusions: Biblical affirmation: Theological affirmation: Jesus is God Jesus is full, undiminished deity Jesus is man Jesus is perfect, complete humanity Jesus is one person Both natures are eternally united in one person, without separating, compromising, or commingling His deity or His humanity.
    [Show full text]
  • John Stott Says of This Appeal to Creation Order
    TMSJ 10/1 (Spring 1999) 101-111 LIVING OUT GODS ORDER IN THE CHURCH R. Kent Hughes, D.Min. Senior Pastor College Church Wheaton, Illinois Since Krister Stendahls monograph, The Bible and the Role of Women, published in 1966, and the evangelical articulation of his thoughts in Paul Jewetts Man as Male and Female, the traditional interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 has been under increasing attack. The newness of these assaults leaves the burden of proof upon the revisionists. This article demonstrates that the perspicacity of Scripture is still intact, that Scripture means what it says, and that adherence to the creation order graces the church. * * * * * First Timothy 2:11-15 is a controversial text, upon which an immense amount of scholarship has been focused in recent years. Virtually no one in the liberal theological camp holds to the traditional, historic interpretation of this text. On the other hand, many in the evangelical tradition subscribe to the historic interpretation, though they may have trouble articulating it at times. But there are also increasing numbers of evangelicals who reject the historic interpretation for what is called the “progressive” interpretation even arguing for the ordination of women. Here, I must say at the outset that I adhere to the traditional, historic interpretation of this text, which in todays secular culture is viewed as, frankly, shocking. Because the traditional interpretation understands that there is a divinely given order for the home and here in 1 Timothy for the church, it is dismissed by some with the most withering of epitaphs as sexist.
    [Show full text]
  • The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today Series)
    The Message of John Here is your King! Bruce Milne Senior Minister of First Baptist Church, Vancouver Series editors: J. A. Motyer (OT) John Stott (NT) Derek Tidball (Bible Themes) www.ivpress.com/academic/ InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com E-mail: [email protected] © Bruce Milne, 1993 Study guide by David Stone © Inter-Varsity Press, 1993 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press. InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org. The poem ‘Judas, Peter,’ is reprinted from Polishing the Petasky Stone, © Luci Shaw 2003, Regent College Publishing, Vancouver, used by permission. The poem “Opening” is used by permission of its author, copyright © 1984, 1993 Elizabeth Rooney. The Scripture quotations quoted herein are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. All rights reserved. “NIV” is a registered trademark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790. Distributed in North America by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
    [Show full text]
  • Trinity-Unbiblical-Booklet
    Is The Trinity Unbiblical, Unbelievable, 6 NICKY GUMBEL Issues Searching and Irrelevant? Is the Trinity Unbiblical, Unbelievable, and Irrelevant? NICKY GUMBEL Published in North America by Alpha North America, 1635 Emerson Lane, Naperville, IL 60540 © 2006, 2013, 2016 by Nicky Gumbel This edition issued by special arrangement with Alpha International, Holy Trinity Brompton, Brompton Road, London SW7 1JA, UK All rights reserved. No part of this guide or any other Alpha publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder or the expressly authorized agent thereof. Where an Alpha publication is offered free of charge the fee is waived on condition the publication is used to run or promote Alpha and should not be subject to any subsequent fee or charge. This resource may not be modified or used for any commercial purpose without permission in writing from the copyright holder or the expressly authorized agent thereof. Originally published by KINGSWAY COMMUNICATIONS LTD, Lottbridge Drove, Eastbourne, BN23 6NT, England First printed by Alpha North America in 2013 Printed in the United States of America All Scriptures references (unless noted) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT) copyright© 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
    [Show full text]
  • Introducing... the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion by Revd Richard Crocker, General Secretary, EFAC It Is Gener
    Introducing... The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion By Revd Richard Crocker, General Secretary, EFAC It is generally accepted that John Stott's post war teaching ministry was accepted widely internationally, and not only in the Anglican world. His passion was to build up the church through teaching the Bible and upholding it as God's Word written, training leaders with this conviction as their central motivation. In 1961, Stott brought together a group of international leaders to found an organization that would have a profound influence in these areas: The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC). Evangelical publishing, and scholarship support of promising international students followed, together with local church teaching and witness that could reach the world's farthest corner. Many Anglican leaders readily acknowledge how they and their Provinces have benefitted from the extraordinary impact EFAC has developed. But that legacy has been overshadowed in recent years by Anglican turmoil, uncertainty and division. Late last year, a group of leaders realized that the time had come to reassert these principles, and revitalize EFAC as a resource for the continuing health of the church. I was appointed as General secretary, we acquired a small staff, put in some money, and we began. Over the past eight months, EFAC has increased its global reach from 9 to 31 countries, is forming an International Council with a training conference in October, has acquired a website, a Facebook page, and an email list, and is genuinely “on the move.” But, why EFAC? What is the purpose? And how can it help? To start, it seems important to explain how we understand the terms in the title of the organization.
    [Show full text]
  • Knowing Doing
    KNOWING OING &D. C S L EWI S I N S TITUTE Hindrances to Discipleship: The Devil by Thomas A. Tarrants, III, D.Min. Director of Ministry, C.S. Lewis Institute This article originally appeared in the Summer 2012 issue of Knowing & Doing. here are three major hindrances to following Commenting on this strange Jesus Christ: the world, the flesh, and the devil state of affairs, John Stott said, T(Eph. 2:1–3). These hindrances hold us in blind- ness and bondage before we come to faith in Christ. It is unfashionable nowadays in After conversion, they interact with one another to the church (even while satanism create a challenging array of problems, internal and flourishes outside it), to believe ei- external, for every disciple. We will examine them in- ther in a personal devil or personal dividually, making observations along the way about demonic intelligences under his how they work with one another to hinder our prog- command. But there is no obvious ress in the life of grace. reason why church fashion should Thomas A. Tarrants, III Every era has had its own blind spots, and ours is be the director of theology, whereas the plain teaching of no exception. A notable example in our day is the de- Jesus and his apostles (not to mention the church of the nial of the existence of the devil. subsequent centuries) endorsed their Secularization, driven along by a naturalism that malevolent existence.4 denies the existence of anything spiritual or meta- physical, has had a profound effect on Americans, C.S.
    [Show full text]